Classroom management for the 21 st Century Scholarship and certificate programme Workshop 1

1. Classroom management for the 21st Century Scholarship and certificate programme Workshop 1

2. About this course: • An overview of the research and theory • A chance to reflect on your practice • Development of classroom policies • Training on the use of non-verbal communication skills • Understanding professional relationships within schools

3. Topics: • Classroom environment and seating arrangements • Classroom rules and procedures • Non-verbal communication • Creativity in the classroom • An introductionto Mental Set • Behaviourmanagement • Tackling lateness and attendance • Time management for teachers • Professional teacher-student relationships • Engaging parents in school

4. Agenda for today: • Class intentions • The classroom: a theoretical framework • The classroom as a working environment • Classroom seating arrangements • Designing your ideal classroom • Break • Classroom rules: discussion of existing rules • Writing classroom rules • Summary and explanation of homework

5. What does your ideal classroom look like?

6. A ten-point scale for classroom atmosphere: Level 10: You feel completely relaxed and comfortable; able to undertake any form of lesson activity without concern. Level 9: You feel completely in control of the class and can undertake any sort of classroom activity, but you need to exercise some control/authority at times to maintain a calm and purposeful working atmosphere Level 8: You can establish and maintain a relaxed and co-operative working atmosphere and undertake any form of classroom activity, but this requires a considerable amount of thought and effort on your part at times. Level 7: You can undertake any form of lesson activity, but the class may well be rather 'bubbly' and rowdy

7. A ten-point scale for classroom atmosphere cont. Level 6: You don't really look forward to teaching the class, it is often a major effort to establish and maintain a relaxed and calm atmosphere. Level 5: There are times in the lesson when you would feel awkward or embarrassed if the principal/a zone supervisor came into the room, because your control of the class is limited. Level 4: You have to accept that your control is limited. Level 3: You dread the thought of the lesson. There will be major disruption; many pupils will pay little or no heed to your presence in the room. Level 2: The pupils largely determine what will go on in the lesson. Level 1: Your entry into the classroom is greeted by jeers and abuse.

8. The classroom as a social and learning environment • (from a caring perspective): • Views the development of children in a positive light • Views students as embedded in a social context • Views the community as relational • Views the curriculum as integrated and student-centred • Makes use of minimal and non-coercive discipline strategies • Has a common set of classroom activities to build and sustain the community

9. The classroom from an ecological perspective: The classroom is an environment, rather like a habitat, where 20 to 30 students gather with 1 or 2 adults to engage in educational activities and learning. • Features of the environment: • Multidimensional: many different events and task take place here • Simultaneity: a lot of things can happen at once • Immediacy: events in a classroom happen at a rapid pace • Unpredictability: events often take unexpected turns • Public-ness: everyone sees what’s going on • History: members of the class accumulate a common set of experiences, routines and norms

10. The physical factors in the classroom environment: • Size of the room • Number and height of windows • Quality of the furniture • Size of the furniture • Arrangement of the furniture • Lighting • Temperature • Noise (from AC etc.) • Smell! • Colour of the walls • Displays • Availability of resources

13. What are your preferred working conditions?

14. Classroom Rules & Procedures • Rules: identify general expectations or standards • Procedures: communicate expectations for specific behaviours • (Evertson et al., 2003; Emmer et al., 2003)

15. Research and theory: • Meta-analysis by Marzano et al (2003): when rules and procedures were effectively implemented the average number of disruptions was 28 percentile points lower than in classes where they were not. • Fan & Chen (2001): establishing rules and procedures at home was associated with a 10-percentile-point increase in achievement at school. • Brophy & Evertson (1976): classroom rules and procedures are less effective when they have simply been imposed on students. • Curwin & Mendler (1988) suggest that classroom rules and procedures should be viewed as a contract between teacher and students.

16. Research and theory conclusions: • Designing and implementing rules and procedures has a profound positive impact of student behaviour and achievement • Effective rules and procedures must first be discussed and negotiated with students

17. Homework! • Write a lesson plan to implement a set of classroom rules with a class, then evaluate the lesson • Start a journal to reflect upon and chart the progress of your management with a class of your choice